Diffused aeration pipe apparatus for use with an aeration tank

ABSTRACT

A diffused aeration pipe apparatus for use with an aeration tank comprising a plurality of air supply pipes pivotably connected to each other by way of swivel joints and an air diffusion pipe at the lower end of said air supply pipe system wherein a guide member for pulling a hoisting rope therealong is provided along the vertical bent portion of an upper most air supply pipe for reducing the moment of rotation required for hoisting the piping system, each adjacent two air supply pipes in said piping system having a projection piece and a projection lever engaging thereto respectviely for restricting the rotation of said two adjacent pipes within a predetermined angle. A movable carriage having an electric motor, a speed retarder for said motor, a winding up wheel pivotally connected to the power shaft of said retarder and a control panel for said electric motor thereon is provided for enabling the successive hoisting and descending of the diffused aeration pipe apparatus.

United States Patent 1191 1111 3,864,441 Suzuki 1451 Feb. 4, 1975 DIFFUSED AERATION PIPE APPARATUS Primary ExaminerAlan Cohan FOR USE WITH AN AERATION TANK Assistant Examiner-H. Jay Spiegel Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Sughrue, Rothwell, Mion,

[75] Inventor: Shigeru Suzuki, Ageo, Japan Zinn & Macpeak [73] Assignee: Nigata Engineering Co., Ltd.,

Japan 57 ABSTRACT [22] Elm: May 1974 A diffused aeration pipe apparatus for use with an aer- [21] Appl. No; 470,780 ation tank comprising a plurality of air supply pipes O pivotably connected to each other by way of swivel [3 Fm'elgn Apphcahon Pnomy Data joints and an air diffusion pipe at the lower end of said Aug. 30, 1973 Japan 48-101713 air u ly pipe system wherein a guide member for May 17, 1973 Japan 48-54863 lli a h i ti rope therealong is provided along the vertical bent portion of an upper most air supply 261/122 137/615 pipe for reducing the moment of rotation required for h th t h tt [58] Field of Search.... 137/615, 344, 3552-35528, y g f f ggg g gf jgg 1135;; 35523;; 137/5516;239/588i210/220;361/121 piece and a projection lever engaging thereto respectl2 47 viely for restricting the rotation of said two adjacent pipes within a predetermined angle. A movable car- [56] References cued riage having an electric motor, a speed retarder for UNITED STATES PATENTS said motor, a winding up wheel pivotally connected to 1,478,925 12/1923 Steed .Q 137/615 the power shaft of said retarder and a control panel 2,323,655 /1 4 L nn 261/122 for said electric motor thereon is provided for en- 2,521,454 9/1950 Dressler 261/ abling the successive hoisting and descending of the 3,281,080 10/1966 Hogg i 137/344 diffused aeration pipe apparatus 3,785,629 1/1974 McKinney 261/122 8 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures .LI\1\IL/ PH Mfr (.Z"1\I\N l f ;l -11 ,iSY {p 1 1-. -:1-1- 1 A IJQ I III.) CU QT; i

.PAIENTEU 4W5 SHEET 10F 3 PATENTEU FEB 41975 SHEET E OF 3 PATENTED FEB SHEEI 30F 3 STATE OF MAX. MOMENT FIGIO DIFFUSED AERATION PIPE APPARATUS FOR USE WITH AN AERATION TANK BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a diffused aeration pipe system provided in an aeration tank for supplying air thereinto and a hoisting apparatus for said diffused aeration pipe system.

2. Description of the Prior Art In conventional aeration tanks installed relatively deep or in a room with relatively low ceilings, the length of an air supply pipe leading to an air diffusion pipe in the diffused aeration pipe system is necessarily long and a fixed piping system has been used since such pipes can not be hoisted because they are obstructed by the ceiling or the other side of the aeration tank in the course of hoisting. Therefore, the repairing of troubles caused by clogging or the like, can only be made after draining the waste water in the tank. In order to avoid such inconvenience, a diffused aeration pipe system has been proposed and practiced comprising a plurality of air supply pipes of adequate length coupled with swivel joints so as to enable the hoisting of the system from the aeration tank. But such a system requires a large hoisting torque and can not easily be hoisted by means of a small manual hoisting apparatus or manual or electromotive hydraulic pumps of small capacity. The provision of large hoisting apparatus, in particular, an electromotive hydraulic pump and the like is bulky and necessitates a large space for the installation as well as provides difficulty in transferring due to its heavy weight. Thus, it is nearly impossible to use it in a restricted space on the upper edge of the aeration tank.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention is provided for eliminating the aforementioned defects in the conventional diffused aeration pipe systems and an object of the invention is to provide a diffused aeration pipe system capable of hoisting without using a hoisting apparatus of large capacity. This is accomplished by the provision of guide means along a portion of an air supply pipe of the diffused aeration pipe system thereby enabling the easy hoisting of heavy weights.

Another object of this invention is to provide a diffused aeration pipe system capable of fixing a plurality of air supply pipes successively one by one merely by inserting a retaining pin after the completion of the hoisting and enabling the easy and safety maintenance, checking and replacement for the diffused aeration pipe system at the upper edge of the aeration tank.

A further object of this invention is to provide a diffused aeration pipe system reduced in size and easy to move by mounting a motor, a speed retarder, a rope winding wheel, a control panel and the like on a movable carriage thereby enabling the easy and rapid operation even at a restricted narrow space at the upper edge of the aeration tank.

Additional objects other than those specifically stated will become apparent on consideration of the accompanying drawings and when considered with specification and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a side elevation of an-aeration piping system according to a preferred embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view, partly in section portion of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of a second embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 5 is a partial front elevation of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 4;

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 are illustrations showing successive stages of operation of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a hoisting apparatus for use with this invention; and

FIG. 10 is a side view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 9.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION This invention is to be described by way of a preferred embodiment thereof referring to the accompanying drawing, in particular, with FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, wherein a fixed pipe 4 is laid, in longitudinal direction of the aeration tank 1, on a support 3 at the upper edge 2 thereof. An open end of the fixed pipe 4 is connected by way of a swivel joint 5 to one horizontally bent end of a first air supply pipe 8 having a guide member 6 and a guide roller 7. The other end of said first air supply pipe 8 is bent downward and the open end thereof is further bent horizontally along the narrow direction of said aeration tank 1 outwardly. Then, the open end bent of said pipe 8 is connected by way of a swivel joint 10 with the upper end of a short air supply pipe 9 both ends of which are respectively bent inwardly in the horizontal direction. In the similar manner, a plurality of short air supply pipes 9, 9...having both ends thereof bent in the horizontal direction inwardly and outwardly in the alternate order are coupled with swivel joints in such required numbers as depending on the depth of the aeration tank 1 and suspended as a continuous air supply pipe system into the tank 1. The lower branched pipe 12 of the lower most air supply pipe 11 is connected by way of a swivel joint 10 with a plurality of air diffusion cylinders 13, each having many apertures provided therein. The air supply pipes 9, 9..., swivel joints 10, 10..., and the air diffusion cylinder 13 thus completes a diffused aeration apparatus of this invention. The lower most air supply pipe I1 is provided with a hook 14 for engaging a hoisting rope and it is adapted so that a hoisting rope 15 is wound up through a guide member 6 and a guide roller 7 provided to the first air supply pipe 8 into a hoisting apparatus (A). Projection pieces 16, 16... and corresponding projection levers l7, 17... are provided adjacent each of the swivel joints of the air supply pipes respectively so that an angle slightly less than may be maintained between each of the adjacent air supply pipes. A projection plate 18 is provided extending from the lower face of the base end of the first air supply pipe 8 and is engaged with projection plates 19 projecting upward from the support 3 with a pin 22 inserting through pin apertures 20 and 21 provided therein to thereby inhibit the rotation of the first air supply pipe 8.

of the fixed pipe The support 3 is provided with a first limit switch 23 for stopping the operation of the first hoisting stage at a first position (Shown as P-I in FIG. 2) and a second limit switch 24 for stopping the operation of the second hoisting stage at a second position (Shown as P-II in FIG. 1). A projection piece 25 for actuating said first limit switch 23 for stopping the operation of the first stage is provided on the lower most air supplying pipe 11.

The operation of the foregoing embodiment is to be described when it is used in hoisting the diffused aeration apparatus. A pin 22 is inserted through the projection plate 18 of the first air supply pipe 8 and projection plates 19 of the support 3 to set the air supply pipe 8 in a fixed state. When a hoisting motor device (A) is started, the rope is wound up into a winding reel 26 and thus the air diffusing cylinder 13 is hoisted. Each of the air supply pipes 9, 9... are then folded successively from below to the left and right alternately at the respective rotary joint portions and hoisted up to the position where the first air supply pipe 8 lies, whereby a projection piece provided on the last air supply pipe 11 actuates the first limit switch 23 to stop the operation of the first stage by disconnecting the driving power for the hoisting motor apparatus (A). Then, the pin inserted through the projection plate 18 of the first air supply pipe 8 and plates 19 of the support 3 is removed and the hoisting motor apparatus (A) is further driven. Then, the guide member 6 is rotated by way of the swivel joint 5 provided between said member and the fixed pipe 4 and gradually from the aeration tank 1 while rotating to the position abutting to the second hoisting stage thereby actuating said limit switch 24 to stop all of the operations (FIG. 1, position P-Il). In lowering the diffused aeration apparatus in the aeration tank, the hoisting motor apparatus is rotated in the reverse direction to slacken the rope 15. Then, the diffused aeration apparatus is rotated down to the inside of the aeration tank while performing the operation of the guide member 6 by way of the guide roller 7 and each of the air supply pipes 9, 9... linearly suspended downward from the lower most one successively due to the dead weight thereof and resume the initial position.

According to this invention, the moment of rotation at the hoisting can be reduced significantly and the hoisting and the lowering of the diffused aeration apparatus can be attained very easily and effectively by the provision of the above described guide member for the hoisting rope. The embodiment described above is particularly suitable for a diffused aeration apparatus used in an aeration tank having a narrow width and a rela tively wide space in the lateral direction.

This invention is to be described by way of another embodiment thereof referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, wherein a support 3 projected on one side of the upper edge 2 of the aeration tank 1 is provided with a fixed pipe 4. The fixed pipe 4 is connected by way of a swivel joint to a first air supplying pipe 33 of substantially L-shaped configuration having hoisting rope guide member 31 and rope attaching member 32 thereon. In the similar manner, substantially L-shaped air supply pipes 34, 34... are connected with each other successively with the bent ends thereof directing in the reverse directions with alternate pipes, the lower branched pipe 12 of theiower most air supply pipe 11 being connected at the lower end thereof with an air diffusing cylinder 13 having many small paertures provided therein. A projection piece 36 and a projection lever 37 are provided in the positions corresponding to each other in the proximity of each of the swivel joints for restricting the rotation angle of each of the air 5 supply pipes within a predetermined angle so that said air supply pipes may not be obstructed with the other side 38 of the aeration tank or the ceiling 39 of the room at the time of hoisting.

The operation of the second embodiment of this invention is to be described regarding the hoisting movement referring to FIGS. 6, 7 and 8.

Stage 1: A rope of a winding reel 26 is attached by way of a guide member 31 to a rope attaching mem' ber 32 provided on an air supply pipe 33. Then, by winding the rope 40 by the operation of said winding reel 26, a first air supply pipe 33 is rotated clockwise around the axis of a first swivel joint 30. The second swivel joint 35 also beings to rotate simultaneously and stops at a position where a projection piece 36' abuts a projection lever 37' (FIG. 6).

Stage 2: When the rope 40 is further wound up, the swivel joint 35 begins to rotate and it stops at a position where a projection piece 36" abuts to a projection lever 37" whereby a second air supply pipe 34' lies in parallel with the ceiling 39 (FIG. 7).

Stage 3: Still further winding for the rope 40 in the stage 2 causes a fourth swivel joint to rotate thereby moving a fourth air supply pipe 11 to the left, that is, toward the side wall 2 while kept the pipe 11 in vertical state (FIG. 8).

According to this invention, the provision of the guide member 31 to the first air supply pipe 33 can reduce the moment of rotation for hoisting to an extrmely small value and enables the easy hoisting by means of a hoisting apparatus of small capacity. Moreover, the present invention has the advantage that it can start the hoisting by merely attaching the rope 40 to the rope attaching member 32 and can hoist other diffused aeration pipe systems successively by detaching the rope 40 from said attaching member 32 after the completion of aforesaid diffused aeration pipe system.

Referring to the hoisting apparatus used in this invention, by way of FIG. 9, the hoisting apparatus comprises a motor 42, a speed retarder 43 connected thereto and a control panel 44 for said electric motor 42 on a movable carriage 41. At the output side of said speed retarder 43, a winding reel 26 is pivotally mounted having spokes 45 fixed with one end of the wire rope 40. The rope 42 is adapted to be led through the guide aperture 46 provided in the winding wheel 26 and attached by means of an appropriate attaching member provided at the top thereof to the rope attaching member 32. On the. control panel 44, are mounted 3-step push-button switch 48 for rotating, reversing and stopping the electric motor 42 and a limit switch 49 for stopping said electric motor 42 when the air supply pipes turn to an appropriate position capable of cleaning the diffused aeration pipe system. The movable carriage 41 is adapted so that it can be fixed at the marginal end thereof to the fixing projection 50 that is provided on the upper edge 2 of the aeration tank by inserting the retention pin 51 therethrough. The carriage is also provided with a projected handle 52 for manually moving the same.

As described above, the hoisting apparatus used in this invention has extremely simple construction as compared with the conventional hydraulic apparatus and the rope can be pulled with a uniform tensile force since it runs along the guide member 31 provided on said first air supply pipe 33. In addition, since the hoisting is conducted by way of the rope, the misalignment of the center position of the carriage 41 can easily be compensated. Moreover, since the rope 40 is wound up by the winding reel 26 driven by the electric motor, even a long air diffusion pipe can easily be hoisted. In addition, the carriage can be moved to the positions of other diffused aeration pipe systems successively for carrying out the hoisting and descending operations after the completion of the hoisting of one by merely inserting a retention pin 53 thcrethrough.

As apparent from the foregoing, according to the apparatus of this invention, excellent operability can be attained even with the restricted space on the upper edge of the aeration tank by the provision of small movable carriage.

What is claimed is:

1'. in an aeration tank having an air supply pipe mounted on a support adjacent one of the upper edges of said tank, an aeration piping system comprising:

a. a first pipe having one end pivotably attached to said air supply pipe, the other end openinggenerally horizontally,

b. a plurality of generally U-shaped pipes each having their ends pivotably jointed, one of said pipes having one end pivotably attached to said other end of said first pipe,

0. aeration diffusion means attached to an open end of one of said plurality of pipes,

d. means attached to said plurality of pipes adjacent each of said pivot joints to limit the angle of rotation between said joined pipes,

e. means selectably engaging said first pipe to prevent 6 said first pipe from moving relative to said supply p p f. guide means pivotably attached to said support,

g. reversible rotating reel means, and

h. a cable having one end attached to said reversible rotating reel means, the other end attached to the piping system and passing over said guide means.

2. The aeration piping system of claim 1 wherein the other end of said cable is attached to said aeration diffusion means.

3. The aeration piping system of claim I wherein said guide means is attached to said first pipe.

4. The aeration piping system of claim 3 wherein-said other end of said cable is attached to said first pipe.

5. The aeration system of claim 1 wherein said reversible rotating reel means is attached to a carriage which is movable with respect to said piping system.

6. The aeration piping system of claim 1 wherein said means to limit the angle of rotation between adjacent joined pipes comprises mutually engaging levers, at least one lever attached to each pipe adjacent each joint.

7. The aeration piping system of claim 1 wherein said other end of the cable is removably attached to said first pipe.

8. The aeration piping system of claim 5 wherein said reversible rotating reel means comprises a reversible electric motor mounted on said movable carriage; a speed reduction gearbox having an output shaft attached to the output shaft of said electric motor; a take up reel mounted on said gearbox output shaft, said reel having one end of said cable attached thereto; and control means to control the direction of rotation of said electric motor. I 

1. In an aeration tAnk having an air supply pipe mounted on a support adjacent one of the upper edges of said tank, an aeration piping system comprising: a. a first pipe having one end pivotably attached to said air supply pipe, the other end opening generally horizontally, b. a plurality of generally U-shaped pipes each having their ends pivotably jointed, one of said pipes having one end pivotably attached to said other end of said first pipe, c. aeration diffusion means attached to an open end of one of said plurality of pipes, d. means attached to said plurality of pipes adjacent each of said pivot joints to limit the angle of rotation between said joined pipes, e. means selectably engaging said first pipe to prevent said first pipe from moving relative to said supply pipe, f. guide means pivotably attached to said support, g. reversible rotating reel means, and h. a cable having one end attached to said reversible rotating reel means, the other end attached to the piping system and passing over said guide means.
 2. The aeration piping system of claim 1 wherein the other end of said cable is attached to said aeration diffusion means.
 3. The aeration piping system of claim 1 wherein said guide means is attached to said first pipe.
 4. The aeration piping system of claim 3 wherein said other end of said cable is attached to said first pipe.
 5. The aeration system of claim 1 wherein said reversible rotating reel means is attached to a carriage which is movable with respect to said piping system.
 6. The aeration piping system of claim 1 wherein said means to limit the angle of rotation between adjacent joined pipes comprises mutually engaging levers, at least one lever attached to each pipe adjacent each joint.
 7. The aeration piping system of claim 1 wherein said other end of the cable is removably attached to said first pipe.
 8. The aeration piping system of claim 5 wherein said reversible rotating reel means comprises a reversible electric motor mounted on said movable carriage; a speed reduction gearbox having an output shaft attached to the output shaft of said electric motor; a take up reel mounted on said gearbox output shaft, said reel having one end of said cable attached thereto; and control means to control the direction of rotation of said electric motor. 